Trips of buses, trucks from Bicol to Visayas, Mindanao canceled due to ‘Bising’

LEGAZPI CITY –– All trips of provincial buses, private cars, and trucks from Bicol bound for Visayas and Mindanao were canceled Friday due to Typhoon “Bising” (international name: Surigae) that is now in the Philippine Area of Responsibility.

Francisco Ranches Jr., director of the Land Transportation Office in Bicol, said in an advisory that the suspension of trips started at noon as the region prepares for a possible weather disturbance.

Salvador Mendoza, Sorsogon information officer, said the order would help avoid congestion and long queues of vehicles at Matnog port.

Mendoza said they were preparing the evacuation centers and rice porridge for possible stranded passengers in Matnog port, Southern Luzon’s main jumpoff point to Samar Island and the rest of the Visayas and Mindanao.

In Albay, Gov. Al Francis Bichara declared the province under “preparedness status” and ordered the local disaster officials to monitor and prepare preemptive measures.

Fishermen were also prohibited from sailing, Bichara’s order said.

As of 11 a.m., Bising was not directly causing severe weather disturbance over any portion of the country, but it was likely that winds and heavy rains associated with the tropical cyclone would begin to affect portions of Eastern Visayas and Bicol regions on Sunday, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa).

But Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal Number 1 may be raised over some areas in Northern Samar and Eastern Samar as early as Friday night in anticipation of the onset of strong breeze to near gale conditions associated with Bising, Pagasa added.

LZB